The Duchess Who Shaped the Fate of France

Before dawn on Wednesday, December 3, 1642, the most feared and hated man in France received Last Rites from a fellow priest of the Catholic Church. His Eminence Armand-Jean du Plessis, the Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu et Fronsac and the First Minister of State to King Louis XIII, had been bedridden since the weekend. Suffering a fever and sharp pains in his side, he struggled to breathe and periodically coughed up blood.